Reading FC takeover news: What is happening? | OneFootball

A recent interview with Rob Couhig has shed more light on the Royals' takeover situation.

League One side Reading have done well on the pitch this season under Ruben Selles.

They may have a decent starting lineup but they have a paper-thin squad and are currently battling against the odds to maintain a very respectable league position.

The key reason why their squad is so thin is because of their ownership situation. Current owner Dai Yongge has suffered from cash flow issues in the past couple of years but is yet to sell the club at this stage.

This will anger fans who are keen to see a change of ownership at the Select Car Leasing Stadium as quickly as possible, having seen their team deducted 18 points in recent years due to overspending, a failure to abide by the terms of a business plan and late/missed payments.

There have been a number of takeover attempts by different parties, but none have been successful in their attempts to purchase the club thus far.

Genevra Associates were reportedly on the brink of signing a deal to go through a period of exclusivity but they were unable to secure a full agreement in the end.

Chiron Sports Group then tried to rescue the Royals back in March this year but were unable to come out of their exclusivity period with any success, before former Wycombe Wanderers owner Rob Couhig entered the mix.

Couhig was even seen at the SCL Stadium back in August and looked destined to secure a takeover after their game against Wigan Athletic, but this deal collapsed in the end, and that left many fears fearing about the future of the football club.

Fears about the club were temporarily eased when it was revealed by the club on October 7th that a new period had entered a period of exclusivity, but since then, the Royals haven't been able to provide an update on the current situation.

Many fans have called on the club to provide an update to supporters, not just on the takeover situation, but also on whether short-term funding is available.

Campaigners Sell Before We Dai, who have been the leading group calling for better communication, have seen their message go unanswered so far.

The identity of the group in exclusivity remains unknown.

Rob Couhig speaks out on Reading FC takeover situation

Couhig has claimed that he wasn't given a reason why his takeover deal fell through, with all parties signing the deal apart from current owner Mr Dai. Even with this, the American lawyer is still interested in getting a deal over the line to buy the club.

He reportedly agreed to pay £30m for the club but wanted some of this payment to be withheld as insurance against any "financial gremlins" that may appear down the line.

Asked why he believes the deal didn't go through, Couhig told The Athletic: "Some people on the inside (of the club) could see there would be substantial change.

"It’s a great club, with lots of good people, and we like the team and (head coach) Ruben (Selles), but it needs a managerial overhaul."

According to the 75-year-old, at the time of this interview, there was no attempt by the current party in exclusivity to make contact with him, something that comes as a surprise to see considering he still holds the liens (form of security over assets) he attached to the loans he provided to the club.

He is yet to release them and refused to do so when the Royals' CEO Dayong Pang asked him to.

"I haven’t released the liens because the loans I made were integral to the sales process — I would not have loaned Reading if I didn’t think I was buying the club," Couhig added.

"I also spent over £1m on this deal. We hired lawyers and accountants to do the due diligence. We even went to the trouble of setting up new companies in the British Virgin Islands to help them out with their (secured debt) problem with (Chinese bank) Haitong.

"Is it fair that I should be out of pocket? I don’t want to sound like I’m whining — what I really want is to do the deal — but I cannot release the liens even if I wanted to, because their lawyers drafted the documents and they are now in dispute with the club over their fees."

Walker Morris were the club's previous lawyers and they have launched a winding-up petition over unpaid fees to them.

The club is now set to face more legal action, with Couhig launching a case of his own.

On this, the American said: "I’m absolutely sure they breached my exclusivity by talking to others. We have a claim but we’ve turned it over to our solicitors. I’ll leave it at that.

"I’m trying not to be controversial here but I’ve been doing deals for 40 years and I’ve never experienced anything like this before."